Let it be up to the kindergarten? It seems like the best solution to me. If someone wants their child to learn english they can place them on such a kindergarten.

Children has quite easy to learn language. The world is is full of people who learn multiple languages as child. Minorities in countries, mix-nationality families etc. If anything it might actually help children to get wider language skills early on.

English is today's lingua franca and very common in international trade. So if children learn that language well, they'll be able to work in China (which will be the biggest economy by the time they finish university) and also dance on the international stage. That's a huge advantage compared with children in the US who only learn one language.

The fact that I know english, german, french, chinese, swiss as well as chunks of many other languages opend many opportunities for me. So I'll most definitely let my own child learn english in kindergarten by sending it to an international kindergarten.

I agree with much of what all posters here have said although I didn't vote because I believe it's not my place to do so.
This is an issue that the parents and educators should make as it's a personal thing. The gov't cannot, and should not legislate everything, especially when it comes to raising ones own kids except for where it involves the childs safety.

It indeed already did once when negotiating a project in Asia and the leading consultant to the client was Swiss too - but I must admit that such occasions are rather rare.
Anyway, because I am mainly working in finance, Swiss can still be of a certain use internationally, but it definitely wouldn't be so helpful that I'd suggest anyone to learn it. Better use that time for learning Chinese :)

From my (rather small) experience, it is always better to know your client's language, even if they know english. You can just connect to them better and make them trust you more easily, which can give you an edge when competing.